Today was the last day of school for Shaggy, Dr. Doolittle, and LadyBug. We are all giddy with the sense of relief and the excitement of possibilities stretching before us. In fact, Dr. Doolittle was sooooo excited that the kitchen could not contain him.
So, he ran out the side door to the front yard. As Shaggy and Baby Blue Eyes sat at the island eating a celebratory grilled cheese sandwich, they spied Dr. Doolittle running back and forth across the front yard. Through the open glassed door, they watched him jump and leap and yell and sing. We all watched, laughing at his antics. He reminded me of those lambs that get set out to pasture in the early spring, to cavort and kick up their heels and bleat to their hearts' content. Until he started flashing the neighbors.
Seriously, he was so full of joy and excitement that he kept lifting up his shirt as if to take it off. But since it barely hit 70 here all day, and there was a stiff breeze kicking up, he'd drop it right back down - all while jumping about 2 feet in the air and running around. Then he'd do it again.
Do you know how hard it is to remind your 11 year-old son about basic rules of modesty vs. semi-nudity, while trying not to laugh your head off? Or trying not to cry with the pain of holding said laughter in? One little smirk from me and we were all lost. I couldn't help it. We all lost it, laughing and crying at his freedom of expression.
Truthfully, we were mostly laughing and crying because, if we were all a little less self-conscious, we wanted to be out there with him. Maybe not flashing the neighbors, but certainly running around cavorting with the sheer joy of 2 1/2 months of freedom and fun ahead. No alarm clocks. No homework. No Science Projects with creepy crawly bugs in soda bottles. No school lunches that cost an arm and a leg. And gosh, if I'd done some jubilation laps with Dr. Doolittle, I coulda skipped Curves this morning.
But I did get a great ab work-out, laughing with my kids over his crazy antics and over the fun that awaits us all! So that's something. Maybe it was enough something to erase the onion rings I ate at our "School's Out For Summer" celebration meal at Applebees. Maybe not.
So, he ran out the side door to the front yard. As Shaggy and Baby Blue Eyes sat at the island eating a celebratory grilled cheese sandwich, they spied Dr. Doolittle running back and forth across the front yard. Through the open glassed door, they watched him jump and leap and yell and sing. We all watched, laughing at his antics. He reminded me of those lambs that get set out to pasture in the early spring, to cavort and kick up their heels and bleat to their hearts' content. Until he started flashing the neighbors.
Seriously, he was so full of joy and excitement that he kept lifting up his shirt as if to take it off. But since it barely hit 70 here all day, and there was a stiff breeze kicking up, he'd drop it right back down - all while jumping about 2 feet in the air and running around. Then he'd do it again.
Do you know how hard it is to remind your 11 year-old son about basic rules of modesty vs. semi-nudity, while trying not to laugh your head off? Or trying not to cry with the pain of holding said laughter in? One little smirk from me and we were all lost. I couldn't help it. We all lost it, laughing and crying at his freedom of expression.
Truthfully, we were mostly laughing and crying because, if we were all a little less self-conscious, we wanted to be out there with him. Maybe not flashing the neighbors, but certainly running around cavorting with the sheer joy of 2 1/2 months of freedom and fun ahead. No alarm clocks. No homework. No Science Projects with creepy crawly bugs in soda bottles. No school lunches that cost an arm and a leg. And gosh, if I'd done some jubilation laps with Dr. Doolittle, I coulda skipped Curves this morning.
But I did get a great ab work-out, laughing with my kids over his crazy antics and over the fun that awaits us all! So that's something. Maybe it was enough something to erase the onion rings I ate at our "School's Out For Summer" celebration meal at Applebees. Maybe not.
1 comment:
:) Yeah! Jump, run, flash! Hey, he's 11, it's okay.
Congrats, Gang, have a wonderful summer!!
Post a Comment